Asylum Seekers In Australia

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Social status. Race. Gender. Ethnicity. Religious persecution. Political stances. Each year, millions of people are forced to flee their homes due to one of these many reasons. Approximately 42.5 million people are displaced by conflict and persecution. This results in 15.2 million refugees, 26.4 million internally displaced people, someone who lives on the borders of their region but is unable to live safely in their own home, and over 895 000 asylum seekers waiting for their claims as a refugee to be accepted. Allowing Asylum Seekers into Australia is an ethical dilemma in modern society with split arguments focusing on whether they are genuine seekers of citizenship. In order to make decisions on such an issue, an adherent would usually …show more content…

According to the United Nations High Commissions for Refugees, an asylum seeker is ‘person who has fled from his or her own country due to fear of persecution and has applied for legal and physical protection in another country but has not yet had their claim for protection assessed.’ In Australia, as of the 31st January 2016, there were approximately 1807 asylum seekers in immigration detention centres as well as 585 people in community detention. Community detention restricts a person’s movements during their curfew and they must remain at their residence at certain times specified as well as being under constant supervision. Each asylum seeker must wait two to three years for their claims for a refugee status to be reviewed and accepted. In 2011, it is estimated that a total of 330 asylum seekers lost their lives, many of which committed suicide while awaiting the outcome of their refugee claim. Asylum Seekers are recognised under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. It states that no matter the method of arrival, any person who has arrived in a county that is signatory to the 1951 Convention are entitled to seek refugee protection. On the 22nd of January 1954, …show more content…

The Migration Legislation Amendment Act, which was prompted by the incursion of asylum seekers arriving in Australia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, was introduced in 1989 by the Hawke government in order to discourage and intimidate “illegal entrants” and allow for the repossession of funds used for the detention and extradition of asylum seekers. On the 29th of August 2001, the Border Protection Bill was introduced which gave the Australian Government the power to use reasonable force to remove any ship in the territorial waters. Five days later, 13 boats carrying asylum seekers failed to reach Australia’s migration zone. Four were cut off by the Navy and forced to go back to Indonesia; eight were sent to different detention facilities and one sank killing every soul on board. One month later, current Prime Minister John Howard stated that “We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.” In early 2002, the government froze asylum seeker application from approximately 2000 Afghans, which resulted in riots and protests including but not limited to hunger strikes and detainees sewing

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